Cal prominent in 2nd round of draft

Cal players, past and present, came up large in the second round of Friday’s NFL draft after no Golden Bear was chosen in the first round on Thursday.

First to be called, surprisingly so, was tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who was taken by Cleveland, presumably to play right tackle opposite left tackle Joe Thomas. Schwartz started 51 games for the Bears and has good size for the position but he’s not a physically dominating player.

What he is is a technician, and that’s what got him drafted ahead of other tackles on most “best available” draft lists.

Next up was linebacker Mychal Kendricks, tabbed by the Eagles. Kendricks, the Pac-12 defensive player of the year for 2011, absolutely killed it at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. He recorded the best linebacker marks for the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and broad jump.

It was a dramatic hey-look-at-me showing by Kendricks, who reported in superb shape and, I’m guessing, did well in various interviews by the teams.

It was nice to see a former Golden Bear, the great wide receiver Wesley Walker, introduce the Jets’ second-round pick, which turned out to be Georgia Tech WR Stephan Hill.

Later in the round, a Cal wide receiver of an earlier (and controversial) era, Isaac Curtis, introduced the Bengals’ pick, DT Jerel Worthy of Michigan State.